A law passed this year won't affect the way the Kansas State Fair's carnival operates, but for many small, nonprofit festivals, the future is uncertain.

Saturday

Sep 6, 2008 at 12:01 AMSep 6, 2008 at 6:00 PM

Jessica Self - The Hutchinson News - jself@hutchnews.com

Kansas is one of six states that - until this year - had no formal safety requirements for operation of amusement rides.

The new bill, which goes into effect January 2009, will require all rides to have a valid certificate of inspection and will mandate all operators to complete training on operation, safety and emergency procedures.

For the Kansas State Fair, no changes are necessary, according to Fair Manager Denny Stoecklein, because the fair contracts with North American Midway Entertainment - a national company that already meets the standards directed by the Legislature.

However, the law will directly affect small "home-owned" carnivals whose operators say they can't afford to pay for the training of more than 200 volunteers.

"This could possibly close us down," said Carol Laws, with the Wichita County Amusement Association that has been operating at the county fair for 24 years. "It just doesn't seem right."

"Best thing we have"

Western Kansas communities started buying their own used amusement rides - which they typically refurbish themselves - several years ago after contracted companies chose to go elsewhere, leaving the county fair with no carnival rides.

"There was a provision in the contract that said if they got a better offer, they didn't have to come," Laws said. "And after a few no-shows, counties started looking to own their own rides."

Now, with 12 refurbished rides, the carnival is pretty much self-sufficient. This August's four-day fair sold 114,000 tickets - at 25 cents a piece - resulting in $28,500. This isn't profit for the organization; instead, it breaks even after buying prizes and paying for maintenance and inspection of the rides.

Most amusement associations' rides are inspected by a professional company. Both Wichita County and the Tri-County Amusement Association in Logan County have the rides examined every two years.

"If it is necessary, we will go to annual inspections. We don't have a problem with that," said Janet Bean, who is with the amusement association in Logan County. "Our concern is trying to get training for every operator. It would be a logistical nightmare to try and certify all those people."

Now, most county fairs rely on volunteers to run the rides - usually working in two-hour shifts. The number of operators totals nearly 200 by the end of the fair.

"We are very concerned about that aspect of the bill," Laws said. "We are a nonprofit organization and this could potentially shut us down. The carnival is one of the best things we have and we could lose it.

"There are just a lot of unknowns right now and we feel like we are being left in the dark about the specifics of the law."

Law specifics

Now, Kansas only requires the owner of an amusement ride to have minimum insurance coverage of $1 million, with the exception granted to nonprofit organizations - a category many of these "home-owned" carnivals fall under.

When the new law goes into effect next year, all carnival associations would be required to have annual inspections of amusement rides, documented training of operating personnel and safe rider rules posted at each ride.

The law also requires the Department of Labor to specify which programs are authorized to inspect rides and certify operators. They would also have to conduct random inspections.

A spokeswoman from the Department of Labor said they are in the process of drafting specific regulations, and expect to have them done before January.

Until then, small carnivals say they are waiting to see what the true affect will be on next summer's fairs.

"We just don't know what the process is going to be," Bean said. "It certainty will affect us, but we didn't even know about it. We don't feel like we were even considered."

"No chance to testify"

Many nonprofit carnivals are just now finding out about the bill - four months after it cleared the Legislature.

Karen Lacio, of the Kingman County Carnival Association, is in that group.

"It is definitely a surprise," she said this week.

Her representative, Dennis McKinney, D-Greensburg, said he hasn't heard much feedback but expects it to be negative from many in his area.

"This is going to have quite a bit of consequence on these small operators, and they were not even considered," said McKinney, who voted against the bill.

Stoecklein, of the state fair, and Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, testified in favor of the bill. No negative testimony was given.

Representatives from the nonprofit carnival associations said if they would have been contacted, they would have spoken against the bill.

"We didn't have the chance to testify," said Wichita County's Laws.

Sloan, who has been advocating for the bill since 1999, said he understands smaller associations might have difficulty meeting the requirements, but he feels all rides must be inspected and all operators must be trained to have a safe environment.

"Is it more important to risk children's life than it is to have someone qualified inspecting the equipment? That would appall me as a citizen," Sloan said.

McKinney said the rides are safe - the volunteers have been operating the rides for years and "they know what they are doing."

"Do we have a record of people being injured at these fairs? We don't," he said. "We all want people to be safe on amusement rides, but these small operators pose very little risk to public safety."

Rep. Jim Morrison, R-Colby, said he has been contacted by several of the western Kansas amusement associations and is already preparing changes to the bill that would exempt nonprofit carnivals.

"Regardless of what this bill is, it has already passed, we know that, but home-owned carnivals should have never been regulated under this bill," he said. "They are safe, and they have been for years."